Lazar praises Russian security services on anniversary

December 21, 2007 10:00am

A chief rabbi of Russia thanked the state security services for fighting xenophobia and anti-Semitism.

Rabbi Berel Lazar, of the Chabad-led Federation of Jewish Communities of Russia, made the remarks in a letter to Nikolay Patrushev, the head of the Federal Security Service, on the occasion of the 90th anniversary of Russian internal security services.

“As a representative of one of the traditional religions in Russia, I cannot fail to notice the contribution of the Russian Federal Security Service to the prevention of crimes committed under pseudo religious and nationalistic slogans,” Lazar wrote.

The internal security agency, the successor to the notorious Soviet-era KGB, has frequently been accused by human rights groups and opponents of the Putin regime of violating human rights. President Vladimir Putin and many of his retinue in the Kremlin are alumni of the agency.

The anniversary also encompasses other Soviet-era security services responsible for the repression, deaths and imprisonment of untold thousands of Jews during the Soviet era.